Cigano GJ-5 Grande Bouche Gypsy Jazz Guitar

Ok... I've only had this guitar a few days, but thought I'd get some initial thoughts down. I'll add another review in a few months.Buying: I've been playing guitar for 30+ years and know the pitfalls of buying before trying, but at this price, I thought it would be worth the risk. I'd read a number of reviews on the guitar and was happy with those, so I ordered this via Amazon from 'George and Freddie' - The reason being that their price was at least £100 cheaper than anywhere else I'd seen this model. It arrived within 4 working days.Packaging:The guitar comes in a traditional 'triangle' box. Inside that there's a the usual lightweight padding around the guitar. The first thing I did was give it a gently shake and could hear rattling from inside - This was due to the three small bags of silica gel! Make sure you check for these. There is also a plastic bag that contains an allen key (for the neck?) and the two ends of the bridge (why aren't they fitted at the factory?)Looks: I noticed a discolouration to the headstock - Initially it looked like a bad paint/varnish finish, however, I was glad to see that it just rubbed off and may have been some residue from the manufacturing process - whew!The guitar has a matt finish all over - This makes it look quite different to traditional acoustics.The huge D hole looks fantastic and the fret board creeps over it on the higher strings - Again, something that makes it look and feel rather special.Sound: I normally play jazz with a 4mm pick and with that, this guitar is LOUD!The strings that come with it are very 'screechy' when running up the neck. I've ordered some Argentines (11's) and booked the guitar in for a set-up next week, so I expect things to quieten down a little in that respect. Intonation seems acceptable and the general tone is what's expected with the gypsy style of rhythm playing.As previously mentioned, I'll use it in anger over the next few months and update again then.However, this is my favourite guitar already and for the money can't really be faulted.Enjoy!

This is my first gypsy style guitar. I used to play on classical Fender guitar before. I must admit that I was bit worried that this guitar won't meet my expectations especially after reading some reviews only (and here on Amazon). Fortunately I am 100% confident to give this guitar 5 stars as quality/price ratio positively surprised me. I was considering buying Cigano D500 from my local music shop but unfortunately couldn't afford it. I bought this guitar mainly because of the price. This is perfect for beginners to gypsy jazz, you won't need anything else to practice and develop your skills. Comparing to D500 which was my prior choice and I played on it many times in music shop I would say that GJ-5 is doing pretty well. Sounds decent on high pitch notes especially. Not 100% convinced to the sound of lower notes as sound is a bit 'metallic/empty(hard to explain). This might be fault of the strings themselves (I am going to change them soon to some decent gypsy jazz strings). I am beginner and I only played on D500 before so my point of view might be limited but as I said I am very pleased to recommend this guitar to anyone who is look for a good start into gypsy jazz for a good price.Package came 3 days after ordering, condition perfect.

This is great value for money and plays well. My initial thoughts were that the string height (action) was quite high, but after reading about this style of guitar its quite a normal set up...slightly higher than most other NON gypsy acoustics. I changed strings to Savarez 1510 Argentines which gives the guitar lovely tone....the string height also helps improve gypsy rest picking technique especially for a beginner. I would buy another one tomorrow if mine was lost stolen or broken. Having played this guitar now for a few months practising every day I really have no faults to mention. Remember its for gypsy jazz style playing, not gentle fingerpicking. Its loud.. and im very proud to own such a playable instrument which does not cost a fortune.

Make, action and intonation very good, just could not get on with the sound, returned.

This was a poor item given the price - more like a £50 guitar, not nearly £400. Finish poor, action dreadfully high, sounded very "tinny". Nothing about this guitar had any plus factors. I returned it straight away. Next time will buy a guitar only when I've seen and played it.Delivery was also 2 days late..... All in all very poor.

Not great quality

not very good